Except for two plain and inescapable facts about the Hawthorn Football Club of recent times: That it has considerable difficulty in beating Geelong and that, in the absolute crunch time of the 2012 grand final, it lost a game that it should have won.

So, there was a doubt about a team that had won 20 games this year. More worrisome were the doubts harboured within Hawthorn heads. Form and fitness were in their favour. Recent history was not.

It was arguable that Hawthorn's greatest opponent wasn't Geelong. It was Hawthorn. To win the game, the Hawks would have to overcome their own anxiety. Perhaps, there was a slight question over that bold precision-kicking game style, since pressure - real or imagined - can unravel what a player does at training 19 times out of 20.

At three-quarter-time in this extraordinary preliminary final, the Hawthorn appeared to have succumbed to the same frailty that undid them in the grand final 12 months ago, and which has seen them fail against Geelong repeatedly. They had not produced in the crunch. They had not brought their best.

They had turned the ball over - as even those sure-footed left boots of the likes of Brent Guerra missed the mark. They had missed shots that ought to have been converted, as Jordan Lewis, David Hale and Luke Breust fluffed near gimmes, and Jarryd Roughead botched a very gettable shot on an angle from 15 metres after the half-time siren - a miss that stalled the momentum gathered in the minutes before the main break.

They had been to their forward 50-metre arc 10 times more than the Cats to three-quarter-time, yet they trailed by more than three goals. Luke Hodge, the skipper who ranks among the game's most composed, ferocious and reliable players, had not performed. Rioli had done little. Roughead, the Coleman medallist, had not booted a goal. Buddy had hurt his elbow and been only fair.

Josh Caddy had come on as substitute and acted as a heart-starter for the Cats, whose lightening quick Steven Motlop was slicing them, while Stevie Johnson had been clearly the most influential player afield, ahead of Sam Mitchell.

Geelong's late third-quarter surge - unexpected, yet expected - had put the Hawks in the most horrifying position of Alastair Clarkson's tenure. They were within 30 minutes of ignominy and, whatever the explanations and excuses offered, none would cut it. They'd be seen as chokers, a team that had failed to land the second premiership its March-to-August performances demanded.

Geelong's pressure around the ball and the slippery conditions caused some of these mistakes in ball handing and useage, but many blunders were entirely self-inflicted.

Consider some of the Hawthorn self-harm in the first half. Josh Gibson dropped a gimme mark. Bradley Hill failed to nail a tackle that allowed Jordan Murdoch to kick to the goalsquare, where Nathan Vardy snapped a goal.

Ben Stratton panicked and was caught holding the ball by Tom Hawkins. Gibson had kicked mindlessly across goal in the first quarter, only to be intercepted, to enable Stevie Johnson to boot Geelong's second goal.

For most of the first half - and indeed for most of the game - Stevie J was competely out of control. No-one was playing close to the sublime Stevie until Liam Shiels was sent to him late in the second quarter - a moment that signalled one of the several sharp shifts in momentum (this one stopping Geelong).

How did the Hawks extricate themselves? The fatigue in Geelong's legs was certainly part of it. But not all. Perhaps, as they stared at the dirtiest of a dozen defeats to Geelong, the Hawks chanced their arm, stopped mucking about and moved the ball quickly. Maybe they discovered a resolve that had been submerged beneath anxiety.

Buddy's first goal of the final quarter - assisted/created by a canny Breust tap - was soon cancelled by Caddy's impressive reply. But this curse-killing epic took its most decisive turn when Hill snapped another to reduce the margin to 12. The clever Jack Gunston's fourth goal - all of them timely - cut it to five. The Hawks had held an edge in play for most of the match. Now, as Sam Mitchell kept winning the ball, they owned the Sherrin, and were finding space and open players.

Of those responsible for the revival, none were more instrumental than Mitchell and another highly experienced ''gamer'' Shaun Burgoyne who would boot the goal that finally put the Hawks in front and saw the end of what we've called the Kennett curse. Mitchell's nine centre clearances were only four fewer than Geelong's aggregate, and he would finish with 11 disposals in a storied final quarter that would likely have required extra time had Travis Varcoe nailed his shot from 35 metres.

The Hawks have beaten Geelong, and perhaps - more critically - themselves. An opportunity for atonement awaits them.

CRUNCH TIME

Mitch Duncan and Jarryd Roughead set the tone for the bruising contest early when they collided heavily in the first quarter. Roughead was leading hard and looked set to take the mark when Duncan threw himself into harm's way going back with the flight. Both players came off worse for wear, but a sore Duncan also had to contend with a big bump from Jordan Lewis on his way to the bench.

GOAL ASSIST

Nathan Vardy didn't record a possession in the first quarter, but he was part of a big play in the second quarter as the Cats seized the momentum. Having caused the turnover, Jordan Murdoch's tentative shot looked set to be punched through when James Podsiadly rose above the pack to deftly tap the ball back into play where a grateful Vardy gathered and kicked a team-lifting goal.

LINE BALL

One of the more controversial moments of the game came with Geelong pressing forward in the dying seconds of the third quarter. A loose ball appeared to come off Jared Rivers' boot out on the full deep in the pocket, but with his Hawk opponent in such close proximity none of the umpires got a clear view and a throw-in was signaled. Much to the chagrin of the already aggrieved Hawthorn fans, Jordan Murdoch then snapped a crucial goal with just six seconds left on the clock. - JASON PHELAN

KEY STATS

■Both sides had seven goals at half-time, despite the Cats generating 11 fewer inside 50s. Their 19 entries was the lowest in any first half this year.

■Substitute Josh Caddy had an immediate impact when he came on 14 minutes into the third term. He had the most disposals of any Cat for the term (7). The Cats outscored the Hawks 5.1 to 1.1 in that time.

■Trailing by 20 points at three-quarter time, the Hawks piled on 4.8 to 1.1 from 12 more inside 50s. They had 49 more disposals.